Not guilty of murder

11 Sep, 2014

Judge Thokozile Masipa rules in the Pretoria high court that Pistorius is not guilty of murder:

Viewed in its totality, the evidence failed to establish that the accused had the requisite intention to kill the deceased, let alone with premeditation. The accused therefore cannot be found guilty of murder.

A verdict of murder by dolus eventualis (murder without premeditation) would require establishing that Pistorius foresaw that his actions in firing four shots into the door could have led to the death of the person behind it, but went ahead anyway. Pistorius’s testimony is that he believed Steenkamp was in the bedroom, and his account of this has remained consistent since the night of the shooting. Judge Masipa:

[It is] highly improbable the accused would have made this up so quickly.